Bulls chasing perfect game - Flip

Rugby / 10 April 2014, 12:32pm

Vata Ngobeni

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND - APRIL 05: Captain Flip van der Merwe of the Bulls shows his disappontment after the final whistle during the round eight Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Bulls at McLean Park on April 5, 2014 in Napier, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

While defence is often said to win trophies, it is meaningless without attack.

Last week against the Hurricanes, the Bulls defended well but still lost.

They lost primarily because of their failure to attack accurately and compete at the breakdown.

Tomorrow morning against the Highlanders in Dunedin, the Bulls will hope to continue defending well but this time around they will be desperate to attack as well.

Bulls captain Flip van der Merwe is not surprised that his team had to make over 200 tackles in their game against the Hurricanes but believes the secret to getting that elusive victory on tour will come when they mix resolute defence with some enterprising moves with ball in hand.

”We are still chasing the perfect game,” Van der Merwe said. “When you are away from home you will make more tackles because the home team keep the ball more. It is not a mental thing but we have worked really hard on both our defence and attack this week,” Van der Merwe said.

In their pursuit of this perfect game, the Bulls will further be encouraged by the fact that their loss against the Hurricanes didn’t affect their standings on the combined Super Rugby log.

The men in camouflage are fully aware that they will need to work extremely hard on their set-pieces as well with the Highlanders known for their scrumming prowess.

At the same time, the Highlanders will be no slouches in the line-outs as they have also called on an old hand in former All Blacks World Cup winning veteran lock Brad Thorn to counter the Bulls’ selection of Victor Matfield.

The Highlanders will also have their tails up after their narrow win over the Melbourne Rebels last weekend although they are still in the bottom half of the table.

“They never stop scrumming and their line-outs are very good,” said Bulls coach Frans Ludeke about their opposition.

“Just like all the other New Zealand teams, they enjoy broken play and open field rugby with those grubbers and chip kicks behind your line.